Justice Above All

The Thurgood Marshall Institute at the Legal Defense Fund brings you Justice Above All, a quarterly series about the evolution of, and continued need for, racial justice advocacy. We’ve entered a time where many of the building blocks underpinning our work for racial justice are being questioned or actively undermined. Justice Above All provides an accessible way to help inform the national debate, revive our history, and remember how far we still must go in our quest to realize the ideals for which Thurgood Marshall and the advocates he led fought.

All Episodes

Justice Above All

What was Freedom House?

September 14, 2023 • The Legal Defense Fund • Season 2 • Episode 5

Freedom House was a radical idea that changed emergency response programs and birthed modern-day paramedicine. As we continue to reimagine public safety and confront the role of police in our society, Freedom House's legacy offers a blueprint on what health and safety can look like when people experiencing medical or behavioral distress are met with appropriate care. On this episode Justice Above All, host Dr. Ayobami Laniyonu, Non-Resident Senior Research Fellow at TMI, unpacks what we can learn from Freedom House's rise to prominence and its ultimate demise.

Guests:

Kevin Hazzard, author of American Sirens: The Incredible Story of the Black Men who Became America's First Paramedics
Brittany Packnett Cunningham, Vice President of Social Impact, BET
Ibram X. Kendi, PhD, Historian and Founding Director of Boston University's Center for Antiracist Research and author of How to be an Anti-Racist

Produced by Keecee DeVenny, Jackie O'Neil, Jakiyah Bradley, and Ayobami Laniyonu

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